Benavidez
Exclusive interview with one of the top bantamweights in the world
Joseph Benavidez is one of the more interesting characters in mixed martial arts. He’s also one of the best fighters in the world, generally ranking as the second best bantamweight in the sport behind UFC champion Dominick Cruz.
He’s an accomplished author. We published his Complete Living, Breathing Guide to Joe-Jitsu on Christmas Eve, and the reaction from MMA fans was overwhelming. As you’ll see below, the reaction has been strong enough that Benavidez is looking into creating a line of Joe-Jitsu merchandise.
On top of that, Benavidez is always an interesting interview. So many fighters give rehearsed answers to questions from the media. It’s understandable; they hear the same questions so many times that it eventually becomes impossible to come up with anything creative. Benavidez never gives a pat answer, though, and it’s rare to find two of his interviews that are the same.
I had a chance to sit down with Benavidez shortly before he boarded his plane to head to Newark for his UFC 128 fight against Ian Loveland. In this far-reaching interview, we discuss the success and possible evolution of Joe-Jitsu, his decision to use a new nickname for every fight, his disappointment in being relegated to the UFC 128 undercard, where he stands in the current UFC bantamweight division and much more.
Heavy.com: People have probably asked you if there is any extra pressure on your shoulders going into the UFC. What I want to know is if there’s any extra pressure on your shoulders with Akiyama off the card, because now you’re responsible for the sexiness of the entire show.
Joseph Benavidez: Yeah, that’s actually the biggest pressure. I didn’t know it was going to happen, but now that Akiyama is off the card, I guess I do feel the pressure to hold down the sexiness for the card. I have to be extra sexy. Sexyama is gone and I know there’s gonna be a hole out there where the sexiness used to be, and I’m just looking to fill that hole.
Heavy: That could sound vaguely sexual.
Benavidez: Exactly.
Heavy: Have you gotten any extra recognition since we published the complete guide to Joe-Jitsu?
Benavidez: Oh yeah, I’ve definitely gotten a great reception from the fans about Joe-Jitsu. A lot of people are calling me Lord Joseph and saying they want their tie-die belt or this belt and that belt. They’re asking me how to get it. I want to thank you guys for doing that, because it was pretty awesome. There is still more Joe-Jitsu to come. It’s always evolving. We’re looking to make some testimonials from people who have had their lives changed by it. And I’m always going in the cage to prove that Joe-Jitsus is the most devastating art in the business.
Heavy: It’s funny that you mentioned the evolving nature of Joe-Jitsu. Gracie jiu-jitsu has evolved by leaps and bounds since the first UFC event. What does the future hold for Joe-Jitsu? What are we going to see from Joe-Jitsu fifteen years from now?
Benavidez: Fifteen years from now? That’s tough. Like I said, it’s just always evolving. The thing about Joe-Jitsu is that it’s not just going to evolve in the martial arts or the disciplines. It’s going to evolve outside. For example, we have a lot of life skills in there, but we might add even more. We might up the ante where you can’t just be mediocre at things – you’ll have to be pretty good. And we’re still trying to turn our prettyhardtoholdontoness into reallyhardtoholdontoness. Right now, I’m just prettyhardtoholdonto. People have done it. Dominick Cruz did it, Waggney did it for a little bit and people do it in practice. But fifteen years from now I’m hoping to be reallyhardtoholdonto.
Heavy: Is there any movement on getting some Joe-Jitsu merchandise ready for the fans to buy? Perhaps a Form-sponsored Joe-Jitsu line?
Benavidez: I’m definitely looking to do shirts that everybody can get. I obviously have my own shirts and stuff through Form, so it might be something different. I was working on ways to sell them, but then this fight came up and I started concentrating on that. But I definitely want to get some Joe-Jitsu shirts out there. And now that I have a different nickname for every fight, I’d like to make a shirt for every occasion. But like I said, there will be Joe-Jitsu shirts. This isn’t the end of it. I’m always out there representing it. Proving it as the most devastating art in the world.
Benavidez: Dude. Yeah.
Heavy: Have you given any thought to painting the tie-dye belt on your fight shorts? Because that would be awesome.
Benavidez: I actually thought of having it on the shirts. Maybe on the bottom of the shirts, around the waist? But that would be pretty sweet to do on my fight shorts.
Heavy: I think so.
Benavidez. It would be good. But the fight shorts would be tough just because Form probably wouldn’t want me messing around like that.
Heavy: You mentioned your contest to let the fans pick your nickname for every fight. I believe I’m the one who suggested that to you. That was my idea, wasn’t it?
Benavidez: (Laughs) I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about that for a long time now.
Heavy: I was hoping to take credit for it.
Benavidez: I guess you can, if you want.
Heavy: I might.
Benavidez: But yeah, it was something I thought about for a long time. I didn’t have a nickname, so everyone was giving me nicknames that they wanted me to use, especially in the gym with my teammates and everything. And so through not having a nickname, I gained many nicknames. I was always thinking about letting the fans choose it, just to do something different. It’s perfect for someone like me, because I’m a chameleon in the MMA world. I’m different every day and I’m different every fight. I may wear a different outfit. You never know what I’m going to wear and you never know what I’m going to do in a fight. I think it’s great to have these different personas.
I was actually on the show with Larry Pepe and I said it was something I wanted to do, so he kind of spearheaded the deal. And so he made a poll and said we could do it right now, so I said let’s do it. So he made the first poll for me. I don’t know where it’s going to continue after this, but I’ve had a great reception from the fans.
For this time I picked my five favorite nicknames, but the fans have been suggesting more and they have come up with some great ones, so for the next one I’m going to use two of theirs and three of mine and just see what happens.
Heavy: I’ve been telling you for a long time that “Joe B-Wan Kenobi” is the greatest nickname I’ve ever heard. Not just for a fighter, but for anything. How great will it be to hear Bruce Buffer call you by that nickname? I’m probably more excited for that than I am for anything else at UFC 128.
Benavidez: Yeah, that’s going to be awesome. I’m excited. I should probably try to hold in my laughter. I think I can be serious enough before a fight that I’m not going to laugh, but it’s going to be pretty funny. I hope the fans enjoy it. It’s such a great nickname that I feel bad that I’m on the undercard, and a lot of the people that voted won’t be able to hear it. But for those fans who are in attendance, they are going to hear and witness a miracle. It’s magic.
Heavy: It’s history in the making, right?
Benavidez: Yeah.
Heavy: I have a feeling that we’re going to end up seeing your fight televised. The UFC, at least lately, always ends up showing almost all of the prelim fights, whether it’s on Facebook or Spike or the pay per view. I’m sure the fans will get to hear your nickname.
Benavidez: I just don’t know if they’ll show the introductions. But I’m definitely looking to get on the card. I’m not really worried. They put me on the undercard and everybody complained about it. It kinda shocked me, too, because I thought I would at least end up on Facebook. I definitely think I deserve it. I go out and put on a great fight every single time. There is always excitement in my fights.
So I think they’re just gambling on me to get the finish, and I’ll end up on the pay per view anyway. They know that’s going to happen, so that’s exactly what I’m going to go do.
Heavy: You’re in an interesting position. You’re one of the top bantamweights in the world, but your only two losses have come to the champ. Do you feel like they might have you in a gatekeeper role for the time being, especially with Urijah on the fast track to a title shot?
Benavidez: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know exactly what role it is, but it’s definitely an odd position as far as the bantamweight mix goes. For one, I’m on the undercard like you said. And I am number two in the world. I’ll go in there and be the most fierce contender in the cage and I’ll finish everyone. And I think they know that, too, so it’s kind of hard for them. I’m fighting a guy like Ian Loveland who is tough, and they have a lot of confidence in him putting him in there with me. And he has a lot of confidence in himself.
But it kind of has to be an opponent like that right now, because they know that if they put me up against a contender like an Eddie Wineland or someone that they want to go for the belt, I will beat them and they will lose a contender, but then they can’t use me. I don’t know where they are putting me. I’m still one of the most exciting and best fighters out there. I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I can do is be grateful that this is my job and this is my life and just keep putting on exciting fights. Everything will happen like it’s supposed to.
Heavy: Few people have heard of Ian Loveland prior to this fight, but there are some experts who believe he’s a dangerous fight for you. What kind of problems does he present for you in the cage?
Benavidez: First of all, one thing is that he has nothing to lose. That’s always dangerous when a guy goes out there with nothing to lose. He’s probably supposed to lose. He can try anything, but I’ve been in there with the best fighters in the world. I don’t see him giving me anything that I haven’t seen already. He’s taking a step up, and he knows that.
I’m looking to go out there and show him why it’s a step up and what a really elite bantamweight feels like. He’s a little bigger and a little stronger and he has nothing to lose. He already has that reckless style as a fighter anyway. But I think he cannot go in there and be reckless with me. He has to respect me. It’s going to be hard to hit me anyway. I don’t really get hit that often in fights. He’s going to see just how dangerous I am.
Heavy: Before we started the interview, you mentioned to me that you’re flying to Newark tomorrow. What does your typical fight week look like?
Benavidez: I typically get there and settle in. It’s always great to get there and check in. This is the first time I’ve checked in for a UFC fight, so it’s going to be kind of cool. You get to WEC events and see some of the other fighters checking in, and they’re usually 135 to 145 pounds. But now I’ll get to see some of the bigger dudes while I’m checking in, so that’s cool. I’ll sign some posters and get my itinerary for the week. You do your interviews and your staredowns and do public workouts. I’m not really a part of that on this card, so it basically will consist of a lot of sleep.
We’ll go to the grocery store and get everything we need for the week. We’ll keep that stuff in our rooms to eat all the time. Other than that, just a lot of focus. It’s always hard. It’s actually the worst part of training camp, because it’s just waiting and losing weight, which are not my favorite things to do. So you’re waiting and losing weight. You have to find a way to take your mind off stuff. When I’m in a new town, I like to go explore and do stuff.
Really, it’s a lot of watching TV and trying to keep myself busy, maybe playing games on the iPad or reading magazines and listening to music. I’ll get one intense workout every day, and then the last day I’ll cut all my weight. After that, I eat as much as I can and then just wait to fight on Saturday.
Heavy: How much weight do you cut? You’ve mentioned to me in the past that you don’t have to cut very much.
Benavidez: I have been making a conscious effort to gain weight and be a bigger 135-pounder, since most of the guys are bigger than me. I’m at around 148 or 150 when I start camp. 150 is the max that I get to. When I start training consistently, I weigh around 147 or 148 every day. I like to show up to the location of the fight around nine pounds over. I usually show up at about 144 pounds, which is close to walking weight for me. It’s actually pretty simple from there. I lose about a pound a day until the weigh-ins, so I wake up the morning of the weigh-ins around 140, and on that last day I cut down to 136.
Heavy: A lot of guys who show up to weigh in look drawn out. They’re exhausted and some of them have trouble even moving if it was a huge cut. But you usually look the same at weigh-ins as you do when you’re not training or even on the day of the fight. That’s got to give you an advantage in the cage.
Benavidez: Definitely. I show up close to my walking weight, and I really start dieting and really thinking about my weight when I get there. Other than that, I’m living normally for the most part. I eat wisely and try to eat healthy. But it’s definitely an advantage. A lot of guys aren’t getting the best out of their training for the last few weeks or month because they’re depleted. So it’s definitely an advantage for me because I walk around normally and then I’m only dehydrated for a few hours while I cut the last four or five pounds. It’s pretty easy. I always feel fresh after weigh-ins, like I could fight that night if I had to. It’s an advantage and I hope it holds true for this fight with Loveland dropping down from 145.
Benavidez: Yeah, I will definitely be involved. I don’t know if I’ll be a coach who is there every single day or how that is going to work. But it’s definitely an exciting thing to think about and talk about here and there. I know I’ll definitely make an appearance on the show and go in to help. It would be an honor.
The Ultimate Fighter was something I watched, and obviously it’s how a lot of fans started watching the sport when it hit the mainstream with Forrest and Bonnar. It’s something I’ve been watching forever. To see myself on there would be awesome.
I’m really happy they are doing the bantamweights and featherweights because I think it’s something that needs to be shown. So I’m excited for that, but I’m even more excited that Faber and our team have the chance to actually be the coaching staff and represent our weight classes. I think we’re some of the best representatives out there for the weight class. And obviously it will be great TV with Dominick and Urijah, because they hate each other. So that will be fun.
Heavy: One potential fight for you that always intrigued me was Kid Yamamoto. You were supposed to fight him at DREAM 5 in Japan, but he pulled out. Now you’re both in the UFC. Is that still a fight that intrigues you?
Benavidez: You know what? To tell you the truth, that fight doesn’t interest me a ton right now. I’m looking to fight the best guys. At the time when I was supposed to fight Kid, he was the best guy, and I wanted to go in there and shock the world and beat him. I was greatly motivated for that fight. But it didn’t happen, and that sucked for me, but I went in there and did what I had to do.
Since he came back, he’s lost quite a few fights. I think he’s lost more than he’s won since he came back. He obviously has a great name, but I think that even the mystique of that name is gone. My buddy Joe Warren actually trained with us for eight weeks leading up to that fight, and he went over there and beat Kid. That was a little rewarding for me because my friend went in there and did it. Since then, he’s been losing, and that’s not really the kind of fighter that I want to fight.
I still think it would be exciting and he was a great fighter, and he’s lost to great people. But it’s not something that is on my radar.
Heavy: All of you guys with Alpha Male seem very goal-oriented. You’re still young and young in the sport, but obviously you’ve got some long-term goals. What do you hope to accomplish with your career?
Benavidez: There is so much when you talk long term or even short term. When it’s all said and done, I want to leave a legacy and let everyone know that I was one of the best fighters to ever grace the planet. I want to go out there and give it my all, to be a fan favorite and build that huge fan following. I want to inspire and change people’s lives through what I do here.
And of course all of the championships and wins I want to accomplish, and hopefully help evolve the sport. I want to get every bonus there is to get in the UFC. I want the submission, knockout and fight of the night bonus. And of course all of the things outside of fighting that it can bring me, just living a great life through fighting and this being my career.
I’m just grateful for being able to take care of my family and everyone around me.
